Birmingham gas holders painted in Aston Villa colours to be taken down

These claret and blue gas holders are about to disappear from the Birmingham skyline

Birmingham's last-remaining gas holders are to disappear from the city skyline.

The three structures, seen by thousands of motorists every day on the A38(M) Aston Expressway, used to store gas to illuminate Birmingham's streets.

The Windsor Street Gasworks, which started production in the 1840s, was once home to 11 gas holders that held town gas created from burning coal.

National Grid wants to solve a mystery of why the towers were painted in Aston Villa's colours of claret and blue.

In the heyday of the gasworks, coal would be brought to an incinerator near one of the holders via train or boat. As the gas was pumped into the holders, the domed container would rise

Twin gas holders built at Windsor Street in 1885 were the largest in the world, says National Grid.

By 1928 the gasworks filled a 26-acre site and was the largest owned by the Birmingham Corporation

The plant remained in operation until the late 1980s and the three remaining gas holders at the site in Nechells were last used in 2012

The Windsor Street site is less than two miles (3.2km) from Villa Park, the home of Premier League football team Aston Villa

Sarah Rea, Land Regeneration Manager at National Grid, said: "We believe the gas holders were painted in Aston Villa colours in the 1980s and there are lots of theories about how this came about, but it would be great if we could solve the mystery once and for all.

"It's believed that the engineer once in charge of maintenance chose the colours because he was a supporter of the club, but we don't know this for sure."

She added: "We recognise that these gas holders have been a part of the skyline in the area for many years and, as well as trying to solve the painting mystery, we'll be making sure we undertake detailed heritage recording at the site as the work progresses.

"We've set up a website for the project where people can find out more about the history of Windsor Street and also download a booklet about the history of the gas industry in Birmingham."

The company is also working with two local primary schools on a gasworks history project

Work to dismantle the three gas holders will start this month and is expected to take a year to complete